The Winnipeg Jets schedule has been surprisingly watered down, to date. Call it Central-Light, with a decided lack of bite to it.

This team might not remember what a divisional foe looks like – they haven’t played one in more than two weeks, and have faced just two in the last five-plus weeks.

That’s about to change.

Beginning with the first meeting of the season against Chicago here, Thursday, the Jets will sidle up to a four-pack of stout: after the Blackhawks, it’s back-to-back against St. Louis on the weekend, then Nashville next Tuesday.

Six days, three cities, four doses of their division – and a case of critical points in the standings up for grabs.

“It’s a really big challenge for us before the break,” Bryan Little was saying, Wednesday. “They’re all big games, they’re all division games and they’re all against good teams.”

Of course, what would a hockey dressing room be without a cliche or two about taking them one at a time.

OK, so let’s twist the cap off the Blackhawks, first, who to many observers is the NHL’s fizzling dynasty, three Stanley Cups in their recent past, but none on their immediate horizon.

To the Jets, though, they remain the standard.

“A lot of respect when that team comes in the building,” captain Blake Wheeler said. “They typically bring out the best in us. It’s a game we circle on our calendar, kinda see-where-you’re-at type of game.

“Anytime we’re on the ice with them we take a bit of an underdog mentality.”

The standings, inverted from years past, say otherwise.

Chicago, 15-11-5, is the one fighting to make the wild-card playoff line, at least for now. Three straight wins suggest this dog may no longer be sleeping.

The Jets, despite three losses in their last four, are a healthy 18-8-5, sit third in the Western Conference and trail only St. Louis in the division.

It used to take teams like the Blackhawks or Blues to get the Jets worked up into a lather.

On Thursday one of the NHL’s most surprising teams will step onto the ice with, dare we say it, a touch of swagger?

Hell, Mathieu Perreault did say it.

“When you step on the ice you can have that swag to your team, where, ‘We’re ahead of you in the standings,’ and for a reason – because we’ve been playing well,” the highest-scoring fourth-liner in hockey said. “We’ve had success against them in the past, too, at least the last couple of years.

“It’s a good matchup for us. Our confidence is high.”

Little didn’t disagree, acknowledging that confidence wasn’t there as recently as last season.

“Especially against the top teams,” he said. “This year… we go into every game believing we can win.”

Little is quick to say the Jets still hold the Blackhawks in high regard. He still sees them as a contender, and with their star power, it’s hard not to.

One of the men in charge of shutting down that star power is approaching this game like he has any other versus the ‘Hawks.

“That’s kind of across the board in any game,” Copp said. “Going into Tampa and Nashville, we thought this is where we belong. We can have a little arrogance about ourselves, but we can’t be too high and mighty and think we’re going to just step on the ice and win.

“Maybe arrogance is the wrong word. Maybe quiet confidence is a lot better.”

Head coach Paul Maurice acknowledges there’s more confidence in his players than he saw last season. But he sees something else, too.

“What’s different is we haven’t at this point been on much of a rollercoaster, in terms of emotions,” Maurice said. “I don’t know that we’ve necessarily had to wind ourselves up to play games. They’re in a good routine.”

Just when you thought Maurice was going to go all milquetoast and say it doesn’t matter who the opponent is, he surprised us.

“There’s a lot of truth to the standard lines – ‘one game at a time,’ and ‘it’s just another game’ – and I get all that,” Maurice said. “But when we haven’t seen these teams — normally we see them so often — there is a rivalry, there is an intensity built into these games.

“They’re exciting games to watch. They’re exciting games to coach.”

A tall pitcher of Central Ale, it turns out, does get mouths watering.

This Week's Flyers

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